EVEN a cat can look at a king and performer Nick Pound is no exception as he again inhabits the role of Old Deuteronomy, the majestic leading light of Cats the Musical.

As the musical prepares to open at Sunderland's Empire Theatre, Pound takes on the mantle made famous by Brian Blessed from the original cast of 1981 and the gregarious tradition of the Yorkshire-born actor deciding to stay on stage throughout the interval.

"I do curse him sometimes because I think about everyone else sitting down in front of fans backstage and having a rest and a drink, especially during July's record temperatures," jokes Pound, who appeared in the last-ever performance of Cats in the West End.

"There's a whole host of good theatre people that have passed through the show starting from Wayne Sleep, Sarah Brightman, Elaine Paige and Brian Blessed and he started the tradition we still have today of Old Deuteronomy remaining on stage.

"It's become quite a tradition because the idea is that he's guarding the territory as it were but it's also an opportunity for the audience to come up on stage and meet me and have a chat or allow children to have their programme signed. For the kids it's great because they get to see a big old hair cat up close," explains Pound.

The most-asked question is 'You must be hot in there?' which has been particularly true in July's record temperatures while the show was touring to Bradford.

"I'm standing there with a full wig on, beard, several layers of make-up and a costume that's made of wool which goes from my neck to my feet. So on nights like that I curse Brian Blessed, but I actually quite enjoy doing it," adds Pound, who has been using a hand-held fan to keep cool in recent weeks.

He enjoys the other unusual aspect of Cats in that the cast goes out into the audience, although he feels the London version worked much better because John Napier's design of a revolving stage meant the production was almost in the round.

"This is my fourth time doing Cats, I started in 1998 in the West End at the New London Theatre and was in the show for two years and then was asked to go back a couple of years later for what turned out to be the last six months. I was on stage when we knew that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh were watching the show and we were told that there'd be an important announcement afterwards. That's when they told us that the show would be closing.

"That happened in 2002 and then in I did the 2003 tour and then I agreed to do this one as well, so Cats has taken up a lot of my professional time," says Pound, who feels comfortable with the role because he's never bored by the show.

So what makes Cats the musical that broke West End records?

"I think that there's something about this fantastic family show even though some people feel it's a little dated in it's look and it's choreography. There's a little bit of magic in there for everyone. You can look at it from an intellectual level of the T S Eliot poetry, and you can't go wrong with that, but for a kid there's the music that's great and loads of special effects and explosions and magic tricks. I don't think that the first time people see Cats they really cotton on to the thread of the story as it is, but I don't think that matters because it's more of a mood thing. I don't know whether people come along expecting us to be all cuddly kittens that are lovely because cats aren't. Cats can be aloof and unpredictable. How many times have you seen a cat in the street and it will roll over and let you tickle it's tummy and the next minute it's putting it's claws into your wrist. There's a little bit of danger with cats which scares kids and adults alike, but kids love to be scared," he explains.

The video release of the show also catapulted its songs into most homes in the UK, recruiting a new audience as well as the West End run becoming a 'must-see' part of any tour of London.

"There's many times you'd look out and see a sea of Japanese tourists all fast asleep. Now that was a little disheartening but they'd obviously got up at the crack of dawn and done it all on the tour bus before sitting in a warm theatre. It was amusing as well because there was nothing more satisfying that jumping on a couple of sleeping Japanese people and scaring them out of their skins."

* Cats runs from Tuesday until Saturday, September 2. Box Office: 0870 145 1163.